|
Showing 1 - 6 of
6 matches in All Departments
Biodiversity is decreasing at the fastest rate in the history of
the earth. The sustainable use of ecosystems allowing maintenance
of biological diversity is an urgent problem that must be solved.
The work featured in this book presents the results achieved by the
RIHN project, together with reports on other international
activities and related efforts, as ecologists, forestry scientists,
environmental economists, and sociologists share in discussions of
the issues.
Biological diversity is important for ecosystem function and
services, which in turn is essential for human well-being. Under
the Convention on Biological Diversity, international efforts have
been made to achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of
biodiversity loss. The loss continues, however. The Asia-Pacific
region includes both developing countries with high biodiversity
and developed countries with sophisticated data collection and
analyses, but only limited information about the status quo of
biodiversity in this region has been available. Many Asia-Pacific
countries have rapidly grown their economies and social
infrastructures, causing a loss of biodiversity and requiring an
urgent mandate to achieve a balance between development and
conservation in the region. In December 2009, scientists
successfully organized the Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation
Network in the region, to establish a network for research and
monitoring of ecosystems and biodiversity and to build a
cooperative framework. The present volume is the first collection
of information on biodiversity in the Asia-Pacific and represents a
quantum step forward in science that optimizes the synergy between
development and biodiversity conservation.
This volume focuses on new trends in monitoring biodiversity in
the Asia-Pacific region, one of the most rapidly changing areas in
the world. It provides reviews of the challenges in studying the
spatial variability of biodiversity across various ecosystems. This
book also describes newly developed concepts and methods for
biodiversity observation including ubiquitous genotyping,
systematic conservation, monitoring of the functions and services
of ecosystems and biodiversity informatics. These contributions
will lead to establishing integrative observations and assessments
of biodiversity, essential for reporting the current status and for
the effective conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
This work will interest biodiversity researchers not only in the
Asia-Pacific region but also across the entire globe.
The studies in the Ogawa Forest Reserve (OPR) were initiated by a
group of plant ecologists and gradually expanded into a
comprehensive project covering various aspects of biology, soil
science, and silviculture. The project was integrated as part of
the Forest Ecosystem Team under the BIO-COSMOS Program funded by
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. As the
coordinators of the Forest Ecosystem Team, we are pleased that
reports of the long-term studies carried out in the OFR are being
published in this first volume on Japanese ecosystems in the
Ecological Studies series. Scientists and researchers have made
numerous contributions to the field of forest ecology during more
than 10 years of studies in the OFR. Two reasons can be cited for
the success of the project: scientists from various disciplines
concen trated on a single target forest ecosystem, and the research
continued over a rela tively long term. It is now recognized that
ecological processes include compli cated mechanisms supported by
interactions among organisms and large temporal variations. The
researchers in the OFR project were motivated by their interest in
the history of ecosystems and the interactions of diverse creatures
in the forest.
Biological diversity is important for ecosystem function and
services, which in turn is essential for human well-being. Under
the Convention on Biological Diversity, international efforts have
been made to achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of
biodiversity loss. The loss continues, however. The Asia-Pacific
region includes both developing countries with high biodiversity
and developed countries with sophisticated data collection and
analyses, but only limited information about the status quo of
biodiversity in this region has been available. Many Asia-Pacific
countries have rapidly grown their economies and social
infrastructures, causing a loss of biodiversity and requiring an
urgent mandate to achieve a balance between development and
conservation in the region. In December 2009, scientists
successfully organized the Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Observation
Network in the region, to establish a network for research and
monitoring of ecosystems and biodiversity and to build a
cooperative framework. The present volume is the first collection
of information on biodiversity in the Asia-Pacific and represents a
quantum step forward in science that optimizes the synergy between
development and biodiversity conservation.
The Ogawa Forest Reserve (OFR) is a species-rich, temperate, deciduous, old-growth forest in central Japan in which the ecology of the tree community has been intensively investigated since 1987. Detailed demographic data on the main tree species, covering the entire tree life cycle, were collected to elucidate the mechanisms by which community structure, organization, and species diversity are maintained. Included here is the work of more than 40 scientists in such diverse fields as botany, ecology, pedology, silviculture, mammal ecology, entomology, and ornithology, who have studied the same forest at the same time. This volume introduces the main areas of research under the OFR project and discusses the implications of the results on environmental issues. Integrated studies of this type are essential to clarify how species diversity is maintained, currently a central focus in ecology.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|